Posted on 01/19/2015 7:06:52 AM PST by blam
Lauren F Friedman and Reuters
January 7, 2015
Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic, teixobactin, that can kill serious infections in mice without encountering any detectable resistance, offering a potential new way to get ahead of dangerous evolving superbugs.
The new antibiotic was discovered in a sample of soil.
The research is "ingenious," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, told The New York Times.
Researchers said the antibiotic, which has yet to be tested in humans, could one day be used to treat drug-resistant infections caused by the superbug MRSA, as well as tuberculosis, which normally requires a combination of drugs that can have adverse side effects.
Antibiotic-resistant infections already kill 700,000 people each year, with those numbers expected to rise.
"The discovery of this novel compound challenges long-held scientific beliefs and holds great promise for treating an array of menacing infections," said Kim Lewis, a professor at Northeastern University and co-founder of the NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals, which has patented teixobactin.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Scientists and engineers make our world tolerable...Lawyers and politicians do the opposite.
Like traditional antibiotics, it probably will work for an undetermined number of years before a super-super bug comes into existence as it adapts to this new antibiotic.
Great!
Now about that Global warming thingy...................
“”The discovery of this novel compound challenges long-held scientific beliefs...”
No, it doesn’t.
I’ve cut my finger while chopping garlic a couple of times, once pretty seriously.
Each time, I’ve been intrigued by how fast the cut seems to heal and disappear completely.
I looked in the article at BI for which long-held beliefs it challenges, and really couldn't find any. I found this in the NYT story:
Dr. David A. Relman, a professor of medicine at Stanford, said by email, “It illustrates the amazing wealth and diversity of as-yet-unrecognized, potent, biologically active compounds made by the microbial world — some of which may have real clinical value.” He added, “We’ve been blind to the vast majority of them because of the biased and insensitive methods we use to discover drugs.”Challenging long-held scientific beliefs might be the same thing as challenging long-held scientific dogma, borne out of habit, convenience, or pragmatism.The methods are flawed, he said, because they miss microbes that will not grow in the lab, and subject others to artificial conditions that may alter the array of potential drugs they produce.
Really?
Please elaborate: which "long-held scientific beliefs" does it challenge? Name one.
Even if that statement is true ... So ... What? Discovery is part of the essence of the natural sciences. It's part of their appeal ... there's always something new waiting "around the corner". To say that "long-held 'beliefs'" are being challenged is identical to saying that scientists are doing their jobs.
“The new antibiotic was discovered in a sample of soil.”
See parents?
This is why you need to let your kids out to play in the dirt sometimes, instead of slathering them with antibacterial soap constantly.
I read of a scientist who collects a sample of soil from every airport he lands at. ‘Seems like it pays off!
Garlic has been shown to kill microbes, so that makes sense.
The big question I have is does it kill the good flora in your gut like all the rest of the antibiotics do? I already take 30-60 BILLION Multi Strain PROBIOTICS, plus digestive enzymes all from a doctor drug ruined GI system.
What are the side effects?
Yup...with a dog, I've read. (And, especially before the age of six)
Doesn’t matter... Won’t be authorized under Zero-care. Doesn’t fit the death panel agenda to kill off more folks to relieve the pending ‘stress’ on social services and such.
So “rub some dirt on it and keep going” really does work.
Time to practice up on a revised chiffonade technique, I think.
It was learning curve. And self-teaching.
BUT, but mobsters used to coat their bullets in garlic in the belief it would give a shooting victim survivors blood poisoning!
I’ve been on record here for a long time that one of the biggest health problems we have these days is kids don’t eat enough dirt.
bkmk
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